Corrupt
by InTheNameOfHate
Summary: Due to one of Double D's experiments gone wrong, the Cul-De-Sac kids are transported into a different universe; one that seems perfectly controlled and systematic. But when they discover just how corrupt this different world is, and are declared criminals, the Cul-De-Sac children just want to get home.But even that is looking impossible. Rated T for Character Death & violence.
1. Something that is Somewhat a Prologue

**Well, I'm posting this and hoping I will turn it into an actual story. Basically, the plot is that The Cul-De-Sac kids end up in a different universe or world where everything is controlled and uniform. This is more like a prologue than anything, so don't worry if it doesn't make too much sense. It'll be explained. Also, I hate writing OCs into Ed Edd n Eddy stories so I'm only putting them in if they're necessary to the story. Yah. So, umm, read and review, I guess!**

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If Eddy had to choose the person that would most likely die first, for whatever reason, Jimmy **would** seem like an obvious choice. He was weak, a coward, more pathetic by far than any girl in the Cul-De-Sac; even more so than the Kanker sisters, if Eddy were perfectly honest with himself. The Kanker Sisters were far more capable than Jimmy in every category, especially when they worked as a team.

But Eddy didn't expect this. He hadn't even imagined it.

Jimmy was lying in a puddle of blood, face down, very still. It was obvious to Eddy that he was dead. He couldn't possibly be alive. Not after all those bullets had ripped through the air and into his chest. Not with all that blood spilling from his body, and it was still **flowing**. Jimmy was dead and the blood kept coming.

Eddy's ears rung from the sound of the bullets, although he was sure they had stopped now. Eddy lifted his head slightly to face the large crowd gathering against the police safety barrier that was being laid out. They were some distance away, but every one of them could see Jimmy. He was only a child. Hadn't they expected that? He could see the shock on the pedestrian's faces, the frowns on the black-suited police. The horror on the face of a small, brown-haired girl as her Mother tried to cover her eyes. No, they hadn't expected this. Why should they?

They had never actually laid eyes on the Cul-De-Sac children. Except perhaps on blurry video imaging. And even then, it had been Rolf and Lee blundering around in plain sight... the biggest members of their groups. They could easily pass for young adults if you saw them from a distance.

So the armed men had shot as soon as they saw Jimmy. They didn't have time to take in the fact that he was hardly four feet, clad in a fuzzy blue sweater and children's sneakers. The moment Jimmy had run out from behind the skip they had been hiding behind, he was dead.

Eddy's head pounded, and he struggled to see anything as bright lights were shined down on him. Floodlights.

"PUT YOUR HANDS UP AND BEHIND YOUR HEAD. DROP ANY WEAPONS. WE WILL NOT SHOOT IF YOU COOPERATE. I REPEAT WE WILL NOT SHOOT IF YOU COOPERATE."

"Weapons?" Eddy muttered, staring into the bright lights. He felt exhausted. And it wasn't from all of the running he, Jimmy and Marie had just been doing. It was like the fight had been ripped out of him. The fierce adrenaline that had been pumping through his veins a minute ago was long gone.

Now he just wanted to lie down and sleep. And possibly cry as well. He felt movement behind him and turned. Marie was bent over Jimmy's body. Against the darkness of the alleyway behind them, her usually pale skin shone as white as a ghost. She held his wrist up, placing two fingers over it, inspecting it. What the heck was she doing? Eddy turned back to the crowd.

"PUT YOUR HANDS UP OR WE WILL BE FORCED TO SHOOT!" Announced the voice again. It was a male's voice. Eddy couldn't help but think that he sounded quite panicked. Why didn't they just shoot? Eddy wouldn't put it past them. He'd seen the things that happened in that laboratory.

Marie's fingernails dug into his upper arm. He gasped in surprise and jerked away.

Marie raised her arms, palms facing outwards. For a moment, Eddy couldn't comprehend her movements.

"Raise your hands, idiot. Do you want to be dead?" Marie hissed, her brown eyes narrowed as she glared out into the floodlights. Eddy shook his head and raised his arms. He didn't want to be dead. Not like Jimmy.

"WALK FORWARD WITH YOUR HANDS RAISED. SLOWLY." The voice advised. Eddy glanced at Marie. She flashed him a glance, but kept her head facing forwards.

"Walk forward a few steps, then when I yell, turn and run."

"To where?"

"Keep your head forward. To the fence at the end of the alley. It's made of wire. I found it while you and Dutch were arguing."

Eddy jerked his face forward, squinting into the harsh lights. He could barely make out the front of the crowd since they turned them on.

"Alright."

Getting caught wasn't an option. Not if they wanted to return home. And Marie had the stolen laptop and computer parts. Double D needed that. They had to get it back to the others.

He copied Marie's slow yet shaky footsteps, only walking when she did. He didn't even stop to wonder why he was taking orders from a Kanker sister now, instead of making his own, better plan. He didn't stop to wonder if the black-suited police would shoot when they turned and ran. He didn't stop to wonder what the others would think if they were caught and didn't arrive back with the computer parts. He could only think of Jimmy. Dead, bloodied Jimmy.

One step, two steps, three steps.

"THAT'S IT. WALK ALL THE WAY TO THE BARRIER. KEEP YOUR HANDS UP ABOVE YOUR HEAD."

Eddy could see dark shapes separate from the crowd and cross the barrier, moving towards them. More of the black-suited policemen, probably.

"Ready?" whispered Marie, barely moving her lips.

"Yeah."

"GO!" Marie yelled, turning on her heel and sprinting into the darkness of the alley. Eddy followed, running as fast as his legs would allow him too. The male voice that had been instructing them was yelling behind him, but Eddy didn't turn. He just ran. There were no gunshots.

The alleyway was long, Eddy already knew that from earlier observation, but it seemed so much longer when you were running for your life. His breath came out in pants and blood rushed in his ears. He would have crashed into the wire fence if he hadn't heard Marie climbing up it. He followed, blindly. It was difficult, flimsy and his feet were too big to fit into the gaps between the twisted metal, but Eddy had no other choice. Once he reached the top he dropped down on the other side, cursing as pain jolted through his ankles. But they only hurt for a moment. Marie was standing there, breathing harshly. Their eyes met for a moment.

Footsteps sounded on the other side of the wire fence. A gunshot sounded, followed by a lot of yells.

"Run," Eddy advised, and Marie nodded briefly, digging her fingers into the straps of her backpack and running after him. They ran out into a dimly lit street, across the deserted street and right, in the vague direction of the Cul-De-Sac kids' current hide-out. The wind picked up and tousled Eddy's hair. His feet slapped the concrete with harsh, loud sounds. It was strange, with how panicked he currently was, that he noticed every little thing. Every little sound from the yells in the distance to Marie's gasping breaths behind him. Eddy noticed the wind that raised goosebumps on his arms, the moths that fluttered by street lamps as they thundered by and the clouds that covered up the moon.

Marie gave a choked call and Eddy skidded to a halt, turning to face her. She was standing a few feet back, pointing to the house beside her. It was shrouded by moonlight, the garden was neat and tidy, and none of the windows were shattered or boarded up. But Eddy still shuddered at the sight of it. Every one of these houses looked too similar. Like a big housing complex... except it was everywhere! Every single house he had seen on their trip here had looked like it was perfectly modelled on this one. It was... what was the word? Eerie. That was it.

"We came through that way. We climbed through those gardens, remember?" Marie said in a low voice.

"Oh," Eddy said, wondering how she remembered when they all looked so alike, "yeah. Do we go back that way?"

"I guess. Why not? But we have to go slower, keep quiet. They won't expect us to lay low. They'll expect us to run."

"How do you know what they'll expect?" Eddy asked in a suspicious voice. But he wasn't really suspicious of Marie. Not like Kevin, Nazz and Sarah had been. Eddy didn't really believe the Kankers would sell them out. At least, not yet.

Marie shrugged, frowning. She walked across the front lawn and quickly, but carefully, scrambled over the wooden gate, and into the backyard. Eddy didn't fancy climbing a fence again, not after the wire one, but it seemed to be the only way. The gate was locked. He didn't think anything of it. Using the recycling bin as leverage, he vaulted over the fence and landed on his side with a loud thud.

"Shhh," Marie hissed, standing poised against the wall of the house. Eddy climbed to his feet and glowered at her. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and strode across the lawn, before scrambling onto a bush and pushing himself over another fence. Eddy just wanted to get back to the vacant store they were currently hiding out in. It was safe there. Well, as safe as they were going to be until they got home.

Marie followed, more quietly than Eddy had been. They crossed another backyard and climbed into another front yard. They crossed another road. Another front yard. Another backyard. Eddy could no longer hear the yelling. It made his heart beat slow significantly, of which he was glad. He hated the feeling of being so panicked.

"Look," Marie hissed. They had just climbed over another fence, and were standing in the shadow of a large tree. Marie's hand shook as she pointed to a small shape sitting at the base of the tree. A stuffed bear.

"That's Jimmy's toy," Eddy whispered, his voice broken and unsteady. "He dropped it here." Jimmy had been in tears when he realised it was missing. But Marie and Eddy had made him push on, without it. He shouldn't have brought it, then, Eddy had figured.

"Mr Yum yums," Marie said. Eddy wondered if they should leave it there or hide it. After all, wouldn't it look suspicious to find a stuffed toy sitting in your backyard? Perhaps they should dig a hole and bury it?

To his surprise, though, Marie bent down and carefully picked the bear up. She wiped a few grains of dirt off its body and gently tucked it into the backpack. Eddy hadn't even thought of bringing it with them. Clearly Marie wasn't as tough and heartless as she made out.

"It's not going to be good, when we tell them," Marie said, staring at the ground. Eddy shrugged, making a noise of agreement. He didn't trust himself to speak. Marie continued. "I mean, they already don't trust us. This will only worsen everything."

By 'us' Marie meant herself and her sisters. By 'them' she meant everyone else. For a moment Eddy was shocked and then he frowned.

"That's what you're worried about? Yourself?" he asked, raising his voice a little too high. "Jimmy is dead, Marie! Dead! Are you really that selfish?"

Marie's outraged glare didn't intimidate Eddy. "Me? Selfish? Look who's talking! If it wasn't for me, you'd probably be captured by the fuzz and locked in prison! Or dead!"

"Yeah right," Eddy scoffed, "As if I-"

The light in the living room of the house turned on. Light splayed out across the yard through the wide glass doors. Eddy felt his heart leap up into his throat. They had been too loud. Marie's eyes widened in panic, and he was sure that his own face looked somewhat similar. In a flash, Eddy was by the side fence, trying his best to scramble over it and into next door's yard. But there was no tree or bush to help him this time. He wedged his new runners against the spot where the two corner boards met and managed to get enough leverage to haul his torso over the fence. Marie made a strange sobbing noise behind him. He turned his head and saw that she was wearing flip-flops. She wouldn't have enough grip to get herself over the fence.

Noises were sounding in the house. A woman was standing in the window, squinting. They were outside the range of the light, but if anyone came out into the garden, they would be seen. Cursing, Eddy jumped down from the fence and threaded his fingers together, holding them out for Marie to use.

"Hurry up, climb over," Eddy ordered, and Marie clumsily obeyed, placing her foot onto Eddy's fingers and using it to pull herself over the fence. Eddy followed, exhausting most of his upper body strength.

"We need to stick together, Eddy, that's all I meant," she said, biting her lip. "If we fight in between ourselves, then we'll never get home. This is obviously a lot more serious than we thought. This whole universe is crazy." Marie's fingers wrapped around his arm and before he could take a breath, she pulled him along towards the front yard. The gate wasn't locked on this house. They passed through with no trouble. Crossing the road, Marie led them through a small park. It made Eddy shudder. It was too perfect. The perfectly clipped lawn, the spotless toilet facilities and the identical trees that were all arranged systematically... like it was some strange maths calculation. And there was no play equipment, like every park should have. Pulling his hand away from Marie's grip and quietly reminding her that he could walk on his own, Eddy didn't miss the opportunity to trample a perfectly laid flowerbed of red and white tulips.

Marie didn't notice.

They climbed the stone wall at the end of the park and dropped down into another backyard. Eddy recognised this one. They weren't far from the shop. The clouds thickened and soon the only light they could see by was the occasional street lamp as they climbed more fences and headed into the poorer part of town. It had been decided that it was better to hide out in a place with poorer security systems and a few empty houses to occupy if the need arose. Eddy just liked this area because it was slightly more unkempt. The gardens were not perfect, although they were still fairly well groomed. The occasional smashed window and skid marks on the concrete road made Eddy feel almost at ease.

They were at the corner of Emblem Street when the rain started pouring down. Marie groaned as they ducked beneath a store's front tarp. The large window was dark but Eddy could make out the words 'Fester's Chemist' painted in white.

"I hate rain," Marie muttered, checking that the backpack was zipped up. Eddy grunted as a way of reply, but he honestly didn't care. She probably just hated it because it wrecked her hair or something. Eddy didn't care. He just wanted to be back at the empty Book Store, with Double D and Ed. He just wanted to be safe. Every little noise made the hair on the back of Eddy's neck prickle.

They walked swiftly down the rest of the street, checking and double checking that no one was observing them. As far as they could tell, there was no one. Eddy stood against the window of 'Emblem Street Bookstore', which was plastered with a big 'FOR LEASE' sign. Marie knocked hesitantly on the door and then twisted the doorknob. It creaked as she pushed it open, but the pouring rain was louder. Eddy sighed as the rain slicked his hair down flat, in his eyes. He pushed it back and turned to follow Marie inside. The door shut behind him and they were enveloped in darkness.

"Hello? Guys? Is anyone there? It's us," Eddy said. His voice was strained and his heart was hammering much too fast. He didn't want to think about Jimmy, but he had no choice now. Their return to the Cul-De-Sac children's current base reminded him of Jimmy's absence. And the blood. They had left him lying face down in the dirt and blood, as though he wasn't much more than an animal-

"Rolf is here," came a furtive whisper from the darkness. Eddy heard the sound of a torch click and he was blinded by white light.

"We got the parts Double D needed," Marie said blankly, squinting in the torch light. Eddy could see her fingers twitching nervously as she shielded her eyes. Rolf must have seen their discomfort, because he twisted the torch sideways so light fell on all three of them. Eddy could see Rolf's frown, the scrunch of his nose, the parting of his lips. He knew what he was going to ask before he asked it.

"But where is the cry-baby-Jimmy-Boy? Is he not with you?"

Marie's breath caught in her throat. Eddy's legs felt weak.

He didn't know how he could possibly answer.

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**Also, don't own, obviously. Do people actually need to do disclaimers or do people just do it because everyone else does? That's something I've always wondered.**

**Anyways, sorry if they seem a little OOC but I figured, Jimmy is dead, they're gonna be acting a little different. And as for pairings, I don't know. I'll see, I guess. Review and tell me what you think! Thanks!**


	2. The First Chapter: The Bunker

**Well, here's the next chapter- enjoy!**

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Lee was pacing up and down the metal-walled room, mumbling under her breath. It was really annoying. Sarah was squirming at her perch on the metal table, desperate to lash out and tell her to shut up. But she didn't. Kevin had yelled himself hoarse at them two hours ago when they had gotten into a brawl. And that had ended badly. Patience, Sarah told herself, is a virtue.

If only Lee was patient! For the past thirty minutes she had been in the back room of the bunker, pacing, her irremovable scowl spread wide across her freckled face. Every few seconds she glanced back down at the small body that was lying in a heap on the cold concrete floor. Double D was also waiting, sitting on the bed frame across the windowless room, legs crossed in front of him, sticking his tongue out slightly as he made adjustments to a notebook with blue pen. Sarah had been contemplating over whether or not to go and sit by him for the past twenty minutes, but had decided not to in case she disturbed him. After all, Double D was their ticket home. No one knew how to build things quite like Double D. Well, not in their Cul-De-Sac, anyway.

As Sarah watched, Double D fidgeted slightly, adjusting the pillow he was sitting on. There had been a thin mattress on the bed, but Nazz had made them move it and put it under the unconscious girl lying on the floor. It occurred to Sarah now that they might as well have just laid her down on the bed, but she supposed that everyone had been so panicked two hours ago that they hadn't thought of that.

The girl was going to cause problems, Sarah knew. Well, everyone seemed to know it, apart from Jonny and Ed, who seemed quite cheerful. But they were idiots, Sarah figured, and Ed would only focus if he thought a group of zombies was attacking them. Or something. Sarah would never be able to understand the idiots thought process (but she assumed that he had none at all).

The stranger had arrived two hours ago, during the middle of Sarah and Lee's large and rather noisy fight. Jonny had spotted her, since he had been on guard duty, quietly entering the book store and walking towards the back room. Jonny had then decided to jump down from his perch on an empty bookshelf, shouting "Bonzai!" The stranger probably would have gotten away if Jonny hadn't accidently swung Plank and hit her on the head, knocking her out cold.

"It was because of you two!" Kevin had yelled, storming around the two-roomed bunker, clenching his fists. "She heard you! We can't afford to be so loud! So put aside your differences and get along!" Sarah had found it ironic that Kevin was screaming so loudly during his lecture about being quiet, but she knew better than to say anything. Kevin was their unnamed leader; everyone knew it, except perhaps Lee and Marie Kanker. Kevin would have kept yelling, too, if Jonny hadn't come to their rescue.

"It wasn't the yelling that brought her here," Jonny had said, "Plank saw books in her bag! She was here to read books! Besides, I couldn't hear you guys yelling. Neither could Plank."

"The bunker's probably soundproof," May added quietly from the background. Double D nodded his agreement.

Jonny had been right. There **had **been books in the girl's bag; several, in fact. While no one was quite sure why or if she had been coming to the empty book store to read them, it was clear that the yelling hadn't attracted her.

"Yeah, well," Kevin visibly deflated, "we still need to keep quiet. And Cooperate. So stop fighting!"

But that had been two hours ago. The girl was still out cold and Sarah was sure that Lee would soon flip out and throw water over the girl to wake her up. As Sarah thought this, loud laughter (Ed, Sarah groaned) carried through the open door from the other room of the bunker.

"Shut up!" Kevin lashed out, and Jonny made a loud squeaking noise. There was silence for a moment and then;

"Looks like it's **someone's** nap time," Ed said in a rather snide voice.

"Shut Up! You stupid dork!"

Ed gave a cry and there was a loud clatter, followed by heavy footsteps. Double D looked up from his notebook and sighed, entering the other room to break up the fight. Sarah drew her legs up into her chest and sighed, turning to look back at the unconscious girl. The girl was thin and lanky and her face was very pale, as though sun was a rare thing for her to see. She wore thick glasses and had plain brown hair. Sarah thought she looked rather ordinary. Sarah's eyes drifted back over to the other door where Double D's strained voice carried from... but, Hang on! Sarah whipped her head back to stare at the girl on the floor. Her eyes were open, staring around her in terror. Jumping down, off of the bench, Sarah called out.

"She's awake!"

"What?" Lee and Kevin were at the doorway in a flash, wearing the same paranoid expression.

The girl dragged herself as far away from them as possible, her back against the far wall. Kevin strode around Lee, towards the bed frame and studied the girl with a stern expression. Lee remained in the doorway, her lips pulled into an ugly snarl. Sarah felt the urge to get up, walk straight across the room and slap her, but managed to resist. It wasn't worth it. Still, it would have been nice to have someone to rant to... if only Jimmy were there. He would understand.

"So," Kevin said, reclining against the side wall, completely at his own leisure. Sarah fought the urge to roll her eyes. This was ridiculous. Were they going to interrogate this girl like the police? That was stupid. Kevin was only just thirteen, and not that impressive a size. The girl did look terrified, though, cowering on the floor like a trapped animal.

Sarah barely noticed when Double D slipped into the room, looking vaguely annoyed. She did, however, notice when Ed and Jonny came lumbering into the room.

"Ohh, she's awake," Jonny cooed, waving Plank about excitedly, before pulling him to his ear, "What's that buddy? Oh, Plank says hi."

"Ed says hi as well," announced Ed, beaming stupidly.

"Ed!" Sarah yelled, "Get lost!"

"Lee, go babysit the idiots, won't you?" Kevin ordered gruffly, not taking his eyes off the confused girl on the floor. Lee's lip curled. If looks could kill, Kevin would be dead several times over, Sarah thought.

"May!" Lee barked.

"What, Lee? I'm busy!" May's voice echoed. She came to stand behind Jonny, scowling at her older sister.

"Doing what? I need ya to babysit Big Ed and the Squirrel Kid. Got it?"

"Whatever."

"Ed," Sarah added in a poisonous voice, "If you don't do what May says, she has my permission to kiss you."

Ed's face contorted in horror.

"Kanker germs!" he screamed, running into the other room to escape May. Lee gave Jonny a rough kick and he followed after Ed. May scowled again and disappeared. Wow, Sarah thought, she **definitely **woke up on the wrong side of the bed. May usually looked so cheerful. The door clanged shut. Sarah watched in silence as Lee and Kevin circled the girl like panthers, neither saying a word. They seemed to be waiting for her to speak. Finally, the girl sniffled and opened her mouth.

"Please," she said, and Sarah noticed how her voice seemed different. It was lilted, lighter and stranger than any sort of American accent she knew of. "What do you want with me?"

"I'm not sure yet." It was Kevin who answered, frowning in contemplation. Sarah clicked her tongue, almost amused by Kevin's tough guy act. Lee, however, seemed to mean business.

"What were you doing, walking into an abandoned book store at night, huh?"

"N-nothing," the girl gasped, wide-eyed, "I mean; nothing bad... I just, I wanted somewhere quiet t-to think." She seemed to be staring at Lee the most, as if she was the most terrifying thing in the room. And, Sarah supposed, her snarl was pretty awful, but Sarah would have been more concerned with Kevin, because he was a boy. But perhaps that was just something that had been stupidly imbedded into Sarah's subconscious. After all, she was certain she would be able to take Kevin in a fight any day.

"You mean, to read?" Kevin asked, "We found books in your bag."

The girl looked terrified, realising for the first time that her bag wasn't with her.

"Oh, please don't hand me into the authorities! I know I'm not meant to have those books, and I meant no harm by it! I swear it on Mallard's life! I was just curious, and it's all just so fascinating!"

"Who's Mallard?" Sarah asked in confusion, before Kevin told her to shut up.

"Please, don't hurt me," the girl was sobbing now. She looked pitiful. Sarah would almost have felt sorry for her, had she not known that the girl was endangering them all by having found them.

"We're not going to hurt you," said Double D, standing up from the back and moving past Kevin to stand before the girl.

"Double D," Kevin muttered, "What are you doing?"

"There's not point scaring her witless, Kevin. What good could that possibly achieve? If you're trying to get information from her, I think she'd cooperate better if everyone was a little politer." Double D shoved the notebook back in his pocket and sighed. Kevin hesitated for a moment, glancing at Lee and then at the girl on the floor.

"Sure, whatever, dude," Kevin muttered, crossing his arms and looking sulky. Lee scowled but said nothing.

The girl stopped sobbing, wiping her eyes underneath her glasses. "Who are you all?" she asked.

"Hmm," Double D glanced at Lee, "you've seen Lee before haven't you? The security camera footage they got of Lee and Rolf. They've been playing that haven't they?"

Well, that would explain why she was giving Lee so many looks, Sarah supposed.

"Because we messed their creepy laboratory up?" Kevin snorted, "Why? It isn't our fault. Where would they play that? This place seems so weird; I'd bet they don't even have TVs."

"TVs?" asked the girl.

"See?" Kevin muttered.

"Televisions," Double D explained.

"We don't have those. They're quite old-fashioned," the girl said reluctantly, although she did seem happier now that everyone was talking in a calmer manner. At her words, Double D remained impassive but Kevin looked shocked.

"Ancient? What do you have instead?"

"Computers," the girl said, cocking her head to the side.

"But computers aren't the same thing as TVs-" Kevin protested until Double D interrupted him.

"Computers that are so advanced, they can perform the function of a television; leaving no need for televisions," he mused.

"But we're not in the future! We're in an alternate universe, aren't we?" Lee asked in her deep, rumbling voice.

"What do you mean?" asked the girl, her large eyes flickering from Kevin to Lee to Double D. They all seemed to have forgotten Sarah was there.

"Well, obviously their technology is more advanced than ours," Double D was thinking furiously now, "but they also have disadvantages that we do not."

"Like, they're insane?"

"Kevin, please, is it quite necessary to be so insulting-"

"Are you from an alternate universe?" observing what she had about the girl, Sarah was fairly certain that she would believe anything they told her.

"What? No," said Kevin, grinning nervously and wringing his hands.

"Yes, we are," Sarah jumped down off the metal table. Everyone turned to stare at her. Kevin looked horrified.

"Shut up, Sarah!"

"Don't tell me what to do, shovel chin!" Sarah growled "I say we tell her the story."

"Oh yeah," Kevin advanced on her, "well I say we don't!"

"You're not the boss of us all!"

"I might as well be!"

"Don't go getting too ahead of yourself, tough guy," Lee sneered, pushing Kevin out of the way and bending to see eye to eye with the girl. "Why not tell the shrimp? Either we get her on our side or we kill her, that's the options."

The girl on the floor gave a small shriek at the mention of killing and pressed herself back against the wall. Kevin gave a start. Double D, oblivious to the fact that Lee was most certainly joking (she was, wasn't she?) stumbled forward and held his hands out in front of him.

"Lee, please, let's not... no, we couldn't possibly ever..."

"Well, then, you better start explaining, oven mitt. But not me, I'm gonna go look for some food. I'm starved. I'll take May with me."

"Yeah, get food, good," Kevin said, eager to get rid of Lee, "but don't take May, you'll just cause trouble."

Lee stopped scowling long enough to look vaguely offended. Then the sneer returned.

"Who do ya propose I bring then?" she asked in a mocking voice.

"I don't know? Sarah or Nazz or someone, I don't care. Actually, take Nazz, she wants something to do," Kevin waved his hands about in dismissal. Lee's hands were curled into fists and Sarah could tell that it was only a matter of time before she snapped. Fortunately, Lee turned on her heel and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

"So, basically, we're not from your world," Sarah started, ignoring Kevin's scowl. She glanced up at Double D, who was biting his lip anxiously. When he caught her eye he stopped and tried his best to put on a calm face. There must be something bugging him, Sarah figured, hoping it wasn't the construction of the machine that would get them home. Kevin, too, seemed to notice his expression.

"Is something wrong Double D?" he asked, and Sarah knew he was as worried about the construction of this machine as Sarah was.

"Wha- Oh no, Kevin I'm fine," Double D assured them, "I'm just worried about Eddy, Jimmy and Marie." He only begrudgingly said Marie's name, and Sarah grinned. Sarah had never really gotten over her crush on Double D, and she despised Marie for liking him as well. At any rate, she figured that Double D liked her better than he did Marie Kanker. That thought always kept her positive.

"Meh, they'll be fine, I'm not worried," Kevin said, stretching back.

"Well, it isn't your best friend out wandering the streets," Sarah said shortly, and Kevin shrugged. Double D nodded absent-mindedly, in agreement with Sarah's statement. Sarah was vaguely worried about Jimmy, but more because he had been left alone with Marie and Eddy than because he was wandering the streets. After all, she was fairly sure that Eddy would ditch him at first opportunity, and Marie would have no qualms with that. There was always the chance that they would be recognised by passers-by... But that seemed unlikely. Unless there had been more security cameras than they initially thought... Sarah shook her head. There was no point thinking pessimistic thoughts. Not when there was a task at hand. She turned her attention back to the girl.

"What's your name?"

The girl was silent for a moment, hesitating. "Sophie," she finally muttered, looking furious at herself for giving up that piece of information.

"Right," Sarah looked over to Double D, "well, I don't really know how the story starts..." Double D took the hint and sighed, pulling at his hat to adjust it.

"Very well, Sarah, I'll start it off. Let's see, it really began only about twelve hours ago, maybe a little more, but it certainly feels as though it's been longer. But I suppose, as the famous Albert Einstein said, time is relative-"

"Cut to the chase, Double Dweeb," Kevin said loudly. Double D blushed slightly at this interruption and pursed his lips.

"Very well, Kevin..."

_~Several Hours Earlier, in Edd's garage~_

"_Hey, Sockhead, get out here will ya? Ed and I found a snow cone machine in his- What the heck is that?" Eddy's loud grating voice made Double D jump. He gritted his teeth as he wiped his oil-covered hands on his lab coat. _

"_Please don't sneak up on me like that Eddy," he said quietly, turning to his friend. Eddy was staring at the large machine behind Double D with apprehension in his eyes. _

"_But what is it?"_

"_Well, Eddy, it's my latest invention."_

"_No shit." Double D winced at Eddy's words. Eddy's latest habit of working swear words unnecessarily into sentences was something that rather irritated Double D._

"_Don't curse, Eddy, there is no need to be uncouth. I haven't named it as of yet, but if it works, and I'm hoping it does, it will be quite interesting." Double D smirked at Eddy's look of annoyance. His lack of patience was very amusing. _

"_Well, are ya going to tell me, Double D, or are you going to come help me set up this snow cone machine?"_

"_Isn't it a little cold for a snow cone, Eddy? After all, it is January."_

"_We'll go inside, blast the heater until we're really hot and __**then**__ eat the snow cones. How 'bout that, Mr Genius?" Eddy said snappishly, probably wounded because Double D had pointed out a flaw in his plans. Double D was astounded by his answer though, unsure as to whether he was making fun of him, or actually thought this was an appropriate answer. _

"_Well, then," Double D said, shaking his head to clear Eddy's horrible logic from his mind, and turning to his invention. It was tall, far taller than Eddy, and involved both chemical elements and machinery. Over all, Double D thought it was quite amazing, even if he had designed it himself. _

"_It's now or never Double D," Eddy said, walking forward to poke at the machine, "because I really want a snow cone."_

"_Stand back and be amazed, Eddy," Double D instructed, grinning widely. Eddy followed his orders, shoving his hands into his pockets and looking bored and unimpressed. If it were anyone else, this lack of enthusiasm might have worried Double D. But this was Eddy, and he often looked bored and unimpressed, so Double D ventured on. After inputting calculations and pulling a few levers and pushing a few switches, Double D stood back as the machine started whirring and humming. It started as a flash, and then it flashed again and again, until a white screen of light appeared before Eddy and Double D. Slowly, as though looking through clearing mist, an image appeared on the white screen. It was a street, wide and busy. The sky above it was grey and to each side were large, grey buildings. It was nothing exciting, and over all looked rather gloomy, but Double D looked fascinated._

"_Oh my," he whispered, wide eyed. _

"_What is that, a weird TV thing?"_

"_Not at all Eddy; what you are looking at is an actual place. Although, in a way it is like a television, for you see-"_

"_Wait, that's an actual place? Like an Alternate Dimension type thing?"_

"_Well, that's closer, but still not quite-"_

"_That's so cool, Double D! If we move it, will the screen change?"_

"_Well, yes, I suppose so, but I wouldn't-"_

_But Eddy was already pulling the table the machine was connected too. As Double D protested, he silently cursed himself for putting wheels on the bottom of the table for easy transport. Eddy had already pushed it into the centre of the Cul-De-Sac before he turned to acknowledge Double D's protests._

"_C'mon Sockhead," Eddy pleaded, "we could charge the suckers a dollar a look?"_

"_I don't know, Eddy..." Double D hesitated, before noticing the image on the screen. Suddenly he shoved Eddy aside and pushed the table forward several feet to get a better view of the image on the screen. _

"_Hey," Eddy protested, running after him, "Double D what are you- Holy Crap!"_

_Double D didn't even have the heart to chide Eddy for his use of language. He couldn't speak. The screen was showing the inside of a building now, possibly one of the large buildings they had seen before. It was white walled, with no windows that could be spoken of. For a moment Double D had thought it was a hospital that they had unwittingly stumbled across, but now he knew differently. Shelves lined the walls; full of jars and jars of... were they organs? Double D didn't even take time to properly check; he was hypnotized by the examining table directly in front of him. Several lab-coated adults crowded around, but Double D still had a clear view of the human body on the table. Its stomach was sliced open, and a few of the lab-coated people were holding and examining different organs. It was horrific, really. Like an autopsy. Was this an autopsy room? _

"_He's still alive," Eddy whispered, standing beside Double D. Double D turned back to the screen and to his shock the individual was alive. His eyes were open, blinking, and his mouth was open, gasping silently. It wasn't an autopsy at all..._

"_It's a dissection."_

"_Hey Eddy, I got the snow cone machine!" Ed called, lumbering over towards them. "Hiya Double D, what are you doi- cool! Is that a horror movie?" _

"_Yeah, Ed," Eddy muttered, almost sarcastically, not taking his eyes off of the screen. _

"_Hey guys, come check this out!" Ed screamed over his shoulder, to whoever happened to be walking past. "Cool. Check out all of the blood!"_

_Double D felt his stomach churn and for a moment he thought he might vomit._

"_Ewww, that's so gross guys."_

"_Oh, Sarah, it's so disturbing! I can't look!"_

"_Close your eyes then, Jimmy. I'm not afraid of it."_

"_Wowee! That sure is a lot of organs. What movie is that?"_

"_It isn't a movie, Jonny," Double D managed to say._

"_Not a movie?" Kevin scoffed, "Then what is it?"_

"_Well, Kevin, it doesn't look like much like a TV," Nazz offered._

"_Yes, it does not at all resemble your atrocious picture-box, Kevin. It is clearly a portal into another realm."_

"_How did Rolf know that?" Eddy asked, shaken out of his shocked state. Double D turned to see all the Cul-De-Sac kids gathered around the invention, all staring at the screen. Double D could even see the Kankers loitering in the background, rather suspiciously. Double D spared himself a moment to hope that they hadn't broken into his room again. "Wait a second! You guys can't be here! It's a dollar a view!"_

"_I'm not paying a dollar to see some guy's guts! Can you show us other stuff?" Sarah protested, crossing her arms. A large scowl grew on Eddy's face. _

"_No, way," Kevin said, "I like the guts."_

"_Do you have any shows on wildlife? Plank and I want to watch a documentary."_

"_How about a musical?" Nazz suggested sweetly. _

"_No way, man," Kevin muttered, "musicals are lame."_

"_People!" Double D shouted, his voice cutting above the other's protests. "This is a real person! How can you just stand there and talk about television? That is a real person, being dissected!"_

"_Yeah!" Eddy said, feeding off of the children's shocked expressions, "Double D built that thing. It looks into different universes!"_

"_What, really?" Nazz asked, eyes glued to the screen._

"_Alternate universes?" Ed's eyes lit up. "Ohh, can we go visit, Double D? Pretty please?"_

"_No, Ed, I'm afraid it's just a screen. We can only see them and they cannot see us. We can't climb through to them either."_

_Most of the Cul-De-Sac children seemed unimpressed with this fact. Eddy's grin dropped and he hastily started speaking again, making up some lie to keep them standing there. Double D knew it was a lost cause, but Eddy was yet to learn. _

"_Nonsense, Double D-Ed boy," Rolf said, grinning, "Of course you can climb through to the other realm. Rolf remembers many a time in the old country when he did so to escape Nanas wrath because Rolf had not performed the celebration of the squid to her satisfaction. Here, let Rolf see your Realm Traveller Doo-Hickey."_

_Rolf hurried forward, grinning widely. Double D hesitated for a moment, unnerved by all of Rolf's chatter, but he quickly regained his senses._

"_Rolf no," he said, moving forward to pull Rolf's hands away. But Rolf had already pulled a few important levers. The screen flashed and grew bigger, enlarging to show a bigger picture. Double D didn't even have time to look at it as Rolf spun around to face him and accidently knocked and smashed one of the chemical bottles. Red, sticky liquid dripped down the device, combining with the screen. Rolf and Double D stared in silence for a moment, before Rolf laughed._

"_Oh Ho Hooo, Rolf sees your problem. What use are these infernal coloured waters to your machine?" Rolf jabbed at the several chemicals being threaded along in glass containers and plastic tubes._

"_Those are __**chemicals**__ Rolf, and are highly important to the- No Rolf, please, stop! Desist!" _

_Rolf was removing one of the glass cylinders, much to Double D's horror. Behind him, Double D barely heard Eddy's voice._

"_Hey, what's Rolf doing?"_

"_Go Rolf go," Kevin had jeered. _

_It seemed to happen in slow motion, yet it was all very quick. As Rolf removed one of the cylinders, brown chemical spilt and caught his finger. A sizzling sound hit Double D's ears and Rolf's finger burned a nasty red colour. Rolf screamed in pain, thrashing and smashing arm through several chemical containers. Double D could just gape as he watched the chemicals run down and mix together, which he was fairly certain wasn't good. The mixed liquids slowly dripped into the mechanical part of the invention._

_The machine crackled and sparks flew, before the humming died down and the machine stopped working. _

"_Rolf!" Double D cried, infuriated. _

"_Double D, look," Ed whispered, pointing towards the screen. The lab-coated adults were no longer bent over the twitching body. Instead they were all staring directly towards the screen, wide-eyed in shock._

"_What the Heck?" one of them said. They could __**see**__ them!_

"_Oh," Double D said blankly, "This can't be good."_

"_No need to thank Rolf," Rolf said, bowing, "for now we can all venture into the great Other Realm!"_

"_What should we do?" one of the scientists (for want of a better word) asked, turning to his fellow colleagues. _

"_I don't like this, guys," Nazz said in worried tones. _

"_No, way," Eddy protested, "this is so cool." He moved his hand forward to poke at the screen, but instead of passing through nothing but a projection of an image, Eddy's hand passed straight through and into the other room. "Woah, it even changes temperature. It's really, really cold in there."_

"_Eddy, I don't think you should do-"_

"_It reminds me of the portal to the backwards dimension in The Evil Organisation from Beyond," Ed said ominously, moving forward to stick his hand through as well._

"_Ohh, I want to stick my hand through the portal," Jimmy cried in delight. _

"_It'll cost you a dollar, Jimmy ma boy," Eddy said absent-mindedly, seeing how far he could move his arm into the portal._

"_It isn't a portal, Jimmy, it's a-" Double D was pushed aside by Jonny and Kevin as they moved forward to get a better look. Kevin imitated Ed and Eddy and stuck his hand through the screen._

"_Woah, it really does change temperature."_

_Jonny, however, went for a more subtle approach and placed his entire head through the portal, laughing in wonder._

"_Hey," Eddy shouted, scowling, "this ain't a free ride you know, Jonny."_

_The scientists in the background were moving about now, clearly panicking. But Double D was barely paying them any attention. _

"_Umm, guys," Nazz said, pointing towards the top edge of the portal, which was moving ever so slightly, "like, be careful, okay?"_

"_Hey, Melonhead, get your head out of the portal, will ya!" Eddy snarled, pushing past Ed to get to Jonny. Ed slipped, falling forwards into the portal so that his waist was caught on the bottom edge of it. Double D's mind was close to snapping... the mere physics of it... it was both enrapturing and terrifyingly frightening! _

"_What the Heck is that?" Marie's voice echoed over everyone else, causing Double D to shudder slightly. Just great, he thought, Kankers! _

"_Ohh, it looks like a portal from one of our video games!"_

"_Shut up, May," Lee grumbled._

"_Uh, Double D? I can see more bodies from here," Ed's voice echoed in from the clearly unstable portal. The edges were shaking now, vigorously so, and Double D bit down on his lip._

"_Gentlemen, please, I don't think-"_

_Jimmy's cries of "Our turn, Kevin!" combined with Eddy's shrieks of "Jonny, move!" drowned out Double D's warnings, and before anyone could blink, Jonny had fallen through the portal. There was a moment of shocked silence, as everyone watched the edges of the portal sway and move ominously. Double D had a feeling he knew what would inevitably happen, and it wouldn't be good._

_The sides of the portal expanded rapidly, spreading in all directions so it stood in front of them like a giant movie screen. Ed fell flat on his face and Jonny shrieked in surprise as he came into full view of the Cul-De-Sac children. The few scientists remaining in the background yelled and moved towards the far door, running as fast as their legs would carry them._

_Seemingly from nowhere, a fell wind picked up, growing stronger and stronger until Double D could barely keep his feet on the ground. Jimmy was clinging to Kevin and Sarah desperately, trying to keep his balance. The portal kept growing, though, and soon it ballooned over their heads, and around until it met on the other side. In a matter of seconds, they were no longer in Peach Creek, but in a different Realm, as Rolf had so crudely called it. All that remained of their precious Cul-De-Sac was the concrete beneath their feet._

"_It's, like, turning into a dome," Nazz whispered, biting her lip. Jimmy whimpered. Since the portal had spread to every side, they could now see every side of the hideous dissection room, and Ed had been right. There were dozens more bodies, each on their own dissection table. The scientists working there had long abandoned them. Some of the bodies, Double D saw, were still moving. Looking at their expressions, Double D could tell that they were terrified. Double D turned desperately to his own invention to destroy it. Anything, he thought, to stop this horror. But it wasn't there. It was still in the Cul-De-Sac. He couldn't see anything but the hideous white-walled room. The concrete ground beneath their feet was slowly receding and transforming into white tiles. _

"_Holy Crap," Eddy whispered, gob-smacked. Ed stood on the last patch of concrete, watching as it slowly changed to white tiles with a fascinated gleam in his eyes._

_Double D let out a shuddering breath, one he hadn't realised he had been holding. There was no wind now. Cold enveloped the twelve Peach Creek children. They fell into silence. _

"_Monsters," the man on the closest dissection bench said in a choked voice. "Get- they will cut you- Monsters... Run. Get away." His fingers clenched and his lip curled in pain. May, in a horrified sort of trance, slowly walked towards the man, ignoring his warning._

"_Where... What..." she breathed, before turning to face everyone. "Where are we?"_

_Though her question was directed at Double D, the man on the table answered. He wheezed, and Double D could have sworn he was almost laughing._

"_In Hell, girl. This is Hell."_

"THEY'RE BACK, GUYS!" Jonny's voice carried through from the other room and interrupted Double D's story. Sarah grinned, jumped to her feet and followed Kevin and Double D through the door. She was glad Jimmy was back. She was really sick of sitting by herself. Jimmy would understand about Lee, and how irritating she was. Jimmy always took her side. Best friends always know the right thing to say...

And, to be honest, Sarah had been getting worried. After all, Eddy, Marie and Jimmy had been gone for so long and-

Sarah's breath caught in her throat.

Rolf's eyes were red-rimmed and Eddy and Marie were both soaking wet. Jimmy wasn't there. All at once, horrible conclusions played out in Sarah's mind, and she shook her head to clear them. She was being ridiculous. Jimmy was probably still upstairs. But still, her voice felt unsteady as she tried to play indifferent.

"What's wrong, Rolf?" she asked, digging her hands into her pockets and curling them into fists. Her heart felt heavy and her eyes stung. Something was wrong, something was terribly, terribly wrong. She could feel it. It seemed to ache in her very bones.

Because Jimmy was Sarah's Best Friend; and Best Friends always know.

* * *

**Ergh, horrible ending. Sorry. I only liked writing Double D's part, to be honest. I do like Sarah as a character *shock horror* but she's pretty boring to write. So, hopefully this explained a bit, but there's still stuff to come as well.**

**Hm, well, reviews would be nice and thankyou to the people that did already. And also, do you think I should make this M for the content? I don't think it's that bad, but some people are fussy. And it'll probably get worse. I'll leave it for the moment, I think. Hope you liked.**

**:D **


	3. The Second Chapter: Come what May

May was sitting on the bed frame in the back room of the bunker. It was quite uncomfortable, and she found it strange that there happened to be a bunker in an empty bookstore with a bed in it as well. But she was glad for it, all the same. The girl on the floor twitched slightly (her name was Sophie, wasn't it?), listening in to the yelling coming from the other room. May didn't like this girl, she was too nosy.

But May could hear it too, the yelling. She didn't like it. May had never liked yelling. She and her sisters had sat through it so many times as small children, listening to the hoarse sounds of May's dad and their Mother screaming at each other. On the day that May's father left, all three of them were almost relieved, because they knew they wouldn't have to listen to the yelling again. Unfortunately, with every boyfriend (and occasionally girlfriend) that their Mother brought home, a chorus of yells would generally follow. That was if they stuck around long enough to waste their breath.

Their Mother had the absolute worst taste in both men and women.

Lee and May yelled at each other a lot, too, while Marie ran around making loud and snide comments. It was how things worked. The Kankers yelled a lot, mostly because otherwise it was hard to be heard in their family. But this was different yelling, even worse than the yelling that she had been forced to listen to all those years ago.

This was yelling filled with pain and fear.

It was Sarah. Mostly. Marie and Kevin's voices seemed to wrap around hers, like a strange harmonised song. Occasionally Double D would input a few comments, even Big Ed. Eddy, strangely, wasn't saying anything at all.

May had been sitting in the corner of the smaller room, leafing through the books they had stolen from Sophie's bag, when Rolf had climbed down the small ladder. Eddy and Marie had followed closely behind him.

"Eddy," Ed had cried, delighted. "You're back."

"They're back, guys," Jonny had called into the other room. Sarah, Kevin and Double D came rushing out from the wooden door. May had seen Rolf's expression, though, and it was heartbreaking. He had been crying, obviously, but May supposed he had rubbed the tears away, leaving nothing but angry red marks on his cheeks. Marie looked crestfallen and Eddy looked shaken. His eyes stayed on the ground.

"What's wrong, Rolf?" Sarah asked.

"We got the computer parts you wanted, Double D," said Eddy slowly, "Marie has 'em."

Marie threw her backpack down onto the wooden table and Jonny, who was already seated there, greedily jumped at the opportunity to go through the bag.

"Where's Jimmy, guys? Is he upstairs?" Kevin asked, but his jaw was set in such a way that May guessed he was worried.

"No," breathed Marie, as Jonny succeeded in pulling a few computer parts and Jimmy's teddy bear from the backpack.

"Mr Yumyums!" Sarah shrieked, turning with blazing eyes to face Eddy and Marie, "Where's Jimmy? What did you do to him?"

Marie's eyes widened in horror just as Eddy's mouth opened.

"He's dead, Sarah."

For a moment there had been nothing but startled silence. It was as if everyone was holding their breath. Sarah had turned white, her eyes wide and staring.

"Surely you jest, Eddy?"

"It's true, Double D," Marie said, "The men in the black coats... the strange police men, they shot Jimmy. We... we only just got away."

May had felt her stomach squirm and she took in a great, shuddering breath. And then Sarah snapped.

"You... you did it! You killed Jimmy!" tears streamed down her face, and she shook where she stood. Her fingers twitched. Sarah looked broken. "Why... But I don't believe you! He... Jimmy..."

May pulled her arms around her middle and dug her fingers into her sides. Her stomach flipped over. Her throat felt thick. Ed, although he could barely grasp the severity of the situation, was moving slowly towards Sarah, both concerned and terrified by her.

"Sarah," Ed said slowly, "please don't cry."

Sarah sobbed louder.

"I'm sorry," Marie said, "But we were followed. They must have... I don't know how they knew who we were, but they must have seen all of us on the security cameras in that place. I thought it was only Lee and Rolf, but obviously not."

"Someone recognised us," Eddy added. His voice was deathly quiet.

"On the street," Marie continued. "We were seen and recognised, and he must have called the police or something. I don't know. But we had already gotten the stuff by then, so we just tried to get away. And then we ran down this alleyway, and Eddy and Jimmy were arguing... And then Jimmy ran out from behind this bin we were hiding behind and they just shot at him..." Marie's voice was shaking now, and May was surprised she had managed to keep it steady for so long.

"But..." Kevin couldn't seem to speak properly. "He can't be..."

Rolf's sobs filled the room again. Sarah cried harder. Ed wrapped his arms around his little sister, crying as well. Jonny was staring at Mr Yumyums, expressionless. Plank was lying on the table behind him, abandoned.

May couldn't think properly. Her chest felt heavy, her eyes stinging. Was she going to cry? But what sense would that make? She had hardly ever known the kid. And the few times that the Kanker sisters had had any contact with Jimmy, they'd called him Dutch and attempted to kiss or beat him up.

It seemed like years that they all sat there, sobbing or crying filling the otherwise silent room. May watched as the whole world fell apart around her. Sarah and Ed were holding onto one another for dear life. Eddy shuffled closer and closer to Double D, until Double D's hand connected with his shoulder in half-hearted comfort and he collapsed onto himself, curling up dejectedly on the floor. Double D just stared. Kevin started pacing, tears pouring down his cheeks and Jonny, for once in his life, didn't say a word.

And so, May, trying her best not to think about Jimmy, left and sat down in the back room, ignoring the wide eyes of Sophie.

At one point Sarah had stormed in here, bleary eyed and shaking. Catching sight of May, though, she had turned on her heel and raced back into the other room. May was fairly certain that she had collapsed into Nazz's arms the moment she and Lee returned with food. Of course, Lee, never knowing when to shut her big mouth, had called for an explanation. And then the yelling had begun.

Maybe it would have continued too, if it weren't for Lee. Her voice, louder than anyone else's (even Eddy's) knocked sense into the grief-stricken Cul-De-Sac children. May sniffled quietly as the other room grew silent.

"Where's May?" Lee asked after a lengthy silence.

"With the four-eyed girl," croaked Marie. May slowly approached the doorway and stood at it, meeting the eyes of her older sister. To her surprise, she looked mildly upset.

"I thou- I thought someone should watch the girl," May murmured. Lee nodded stiffly. Kevin cleared his throat, glancing around the room without meeting anybody's eyes.

"We should... erm, eat. We haven't eaten anything in a while. Regain our strength and... and stuff..." he muttered. No one dared protest. Everyone but Sarah and Nazz gathered around the metal bench.

"Pass it out evenly," Marie said to Eddy, who was handing out half a bread roll to everyone. May quietly agreed; Eddy would be the sort to skip over them, out of pure dislike.

"Shut up Marie," Eddy hissed back, sending her a filthy look. Marie opened her mouth to say something nasty, but Lee elbowed her and shot May a look. May quickly closed her mouth, surprised that she had even opened it. Lee was right. There was no point starting a fight now.

They ate their bread in silence (or in Ed's case, rather loudly).

"What do we do now?" Nazz asked eventually, leaving Sarah where she was seated in the corner of the room to stand beside Kevin at the table.

"Fix that blasted machine and get back home," Kevin said, his eyes growing hard. A few heads nodded around the table.

"We can't stay here, though, can we?" May asked suddenly, "Now that that girl found us. What if someone knew where she was going? That'll lead them here? Or what if there are security cameras' around?"

"I didn't see any security cameras," Eddy protested, through a mouthful of bread.

"I think we have to assume that there are security cameras hidden in a lot of different places," Double D said, "After all, how could they know what Eddy, Marie and... what Eddy and Marie looked like? We were all fairly agreed on the fact that only Lee, Rolf and myself were in front of the cameras in that lobby. Therefore, there must have been other, hidden, cameras."

"But we looked," Jonny said, "there was nothing in any of the labs."

"Yeah, why would they film the stuff they were doing down there anyways? It's just easier to catch 'em," Lee reasoned. Kevin slammed his fist down on the metal table.

"Screw that. What I wanna know is why they were performing those freaky experiments in the first place! This whole world is raving mad!"

"Every madman makes sense onto himself," Ed said wisely, cocking his head to the side. It sounded slightly familiar to May.

"What do you mean, Ed?" Double D asked, ever so tentatively.

"It's from my comic book; The Evil Organisation from Beyond. The two heroes stumble upon a backwards dimension, but without the key portal, can find no way to return home. The worst part is, the backwards dimension is ruled by the evil sorcerer Gandlehoff who uses the magic of fear and confusion to control his subjects."

"Sounds like something May would read," Marie muttered snidely, "how stupid."

"You can say that again," Eddy grumbled.

"Hush, Eddy," Double D held up a hand. "Please continue Ed. What happened?"

"Uhh, the two heroes were learning all they could about this backwards universe in order to beat the evil sorcerer at his own game. Unfortunately, a girl who had been acting as their guide backstabbed them and they were captured by the evil sorcerers organisation of evil. One of the heroes manages to help the other escape, but by doing so he himself is destroyed by Gandlehoff. Fearing for his own life and vowing to avenge the death of his friend, our remaining hero recruits an army and leads a full scale revolution against Gandlehoff. Finally, in the final battle, our hero learns the startling truth about..." Ed trailed off, a dumb expression crossing his face.

"Yes, Ed, about what?" Double D pressed.

"I don't know Double D, I stopped reading after that."

"What?" Double D's eyes widened," Why on Earth would you stop reading just before the conclusion of a story?"

"Ah, the blood didn't even look real," Ed said offhandedly, as though this were a viable reason. Double D turned his eyes to May, wide and pleading, as though hoping she might know the surprise twist ending of The Evil Organisation from Beyond.

"I never finished that comic either. I got halfway, but it was too predictable." May said. Double D appeared restless, pulling anxiously at his sock hat.

"Calm down, Sockhead. It's just a comic. It's not like it's foretelling the future or something," Eddy patted Double D's shoulder reluctantly, sparing half a worried gaze for his friend.

"Don't say that Eddy, you'll jinx it," Double D murmured, resting his forehead against the table.

"Well, that was incredibly pointless and dorkish," Kevin sighed, "But it has given me one idea."

"And what would that be?" asked Double D.

"I know where we can get a guide from."

* * *

**Ah, I know, I've been slack. horrendously so. And this is shorter than the last once. Better than nothing, though :D**

**Tell me thoughts, etc. and stuff. REVIEW. Thanks :)**


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